Network switch choices, HP vs. other brands

[greggmh123]

Hello!

I have been reading about various 24-port Gigabit switches over the last several days. I need at least two SFP uplinks and VLAN compatibility with WatchGuard firewalls, fanless preferred. I was looking at the HP 1810-24G and 1910-24G models, and read bad things about the 1910 models, stating that they were rebranded 3Com and very low performance. Now HP has 1820 and 1920 models. I also read about Cisco SG200 and SG300, with people loving and hating them, and others saying they are still Linksys inside. I don't think that I need L3 management...I am still reading up on it.

So far, the 1820-24G looks like it will fit my needs and those of any client that I have now.

Someone mentioned D-Link as having good "enterprise" models, but I never think of D-Link as anything above low-end home equipment.

Are the 1820 series based on older tech (Comware?). Does anyone have the new 1820 series and have any input?

Thank you for your help!

Gregg Hill

[Vince-Whirlwind]

A few random thoughts:

1. DLink - I have never sold DLink to a customer, but have seen a few on customer networks. I have also used DLink at home - my first DLink worked for 4 years and I replaced it because my service changed and I needed a cable modem. My second DLink lasted 8 years and I replaced it when I got a different service again. My personal experience with DLink is that they are very reliable - never broken, even after many years' operation.

2. I don't like 3COM either.

3. I don't know why anybody would consider an ultra-low-end switch like a 1910 and then say it has low performance. Its performance is perfectly fine if you want a basic switch.

3. Comware - there is nothing "old" about Comware. This is a live product and at the high end they are even preferable to Procurve.

4. The 1800-series is - as far as I know - Procurve. The 1820 is a very recent model and has the HP Lifetime Warranty.

5. These ultra-low-end switches aren't properly manageable and have no CLI, only a web-GUI, so it really doesn't matter whether they are Provision or Comware switches anyway - all you see is the GUI. Plus you really can't do much with it anyway.

[greggmh123]

Hi, Vince!

All of my clients are 30 computers or less, so a low-end HP switch is better than what 90% of them have now. I picked up a new client where I need to connect to a remote building, preferably with fiber (for electrical isolation more than a distance problem).

I need fiber, VLANs, and fanless, so even a "basic" switch for an enterprise likely would suit my needs. What I read about the 1910 made it sound worse in performance than an 1810.

Do you know if the 1820 series will have its VLANs work with WatchGuard firewall VLANs? I don't see why not, but I don't have experience with these switches.

Also, I saw mention that HP "brand locks" their SFP ports to work only with HP SFP modules, at a much higher price. I have to dig furher on that information.

Gregg Hill

[Vince-Whirlwind]

If it supports 802.1q, it supports VLANs, same as any other vendor does.

The Procurve "brand locking" of SFPs is a bit annoying, but 3rd-party vendors' SFPs will work in your Procurve switch, provided you first tell them you need the SFP for a Procurve switch.

[greggmh123]

Thank you, Vince!

That information should help. The WatchGuard firewalls do support 802.1Q VLANs, with a note that, "The WatchGuard VLAN implementation does not support the spanning tree link management protocol." I do not have enough VLAN experience to know if that will cause issues with HP switches or any others.

Gregg Hill

[Vince-Whirlwind]

A good design is a design that doesn't use spanning-tree anyway.

With a firewall, you should have your network Edge switch-stack with multiple interfaces patched to the firewall link-aggregated together (Watchguard should support 802.3ad) so you have active-active links and nopthing blocked by spanning-tree.

As a rule, if you patch something into your network that doesn't support spanning-tree, you should configure loopguard on the switches it's patched to, including all network Access ports.

[MichaelM55]

Hopefully I´m not too late. In year 2009 we were looking for new core, distribution and access switches.

After comparing almost every major vendor, the 3Com 4800G switch was chosen. Yes it´s 3Com, but not "old 3Com", but new 3Com based on H3C switches, i.e. 3Com 4800G == H3C S5500-EI. Happily HP acquired 3Com/H3C and the 3Com 4800G has been relabled to HP E4800, prices have been raised a little and it received HP´s legendary lifetime warranty. We purchased 80 pieces of them. The HP E4800 is end of sale for a long time, bute the same switch can be bought as HP A5500-EI (of course for a little more than the E4800 ;-) ). The successor of those is the HP A5500-HI (== H3C S5500-HI). EI and HI switches share the same PSUs and 10GbE modules, which is quite nice.

Comware OS beats HP Procurve hands down. So I consider myself Procurve the "old" OS and Comware the new one.

Unfortunately, HP decided to remove its lifetime warranty on almost all high end Comware based switches, even for the 1U one: >5900.

3Com 2928 == HP V1910 == HP 1910(G) (Comware 5) switch == H3C S5120-SI with different software branding. Low performance??? Says who? Sorry, the PoE models work for happily for me for years. Yes they´re loud...

A 1910 switch will beat a 1820 hands down in terms of software features. (Ok, it has that strange 256 ARP table limit, which the 1820 doesn´t have...)

Of course I have DLink 1210 switches, 24 port fanless, some older ones, which have IGMPv2 snooping. Also I have Zyxel GS1910 switches, 24 port fanless, with IGMPv3 snooping support, as HP doesn´t offer those one. (The last time I looked at 2520/2530´s manual IGMPv3 snooping still had limitations...? - so that one doesn´t count) So yes, other vendors for layer 2, H3C/Comware for all layer 3

HP Procurve switches don´t like non-HP-Procurve branded SFPs. They refuse to use them. So don´t take a HP "Comware" SFP and put it in. It won´t work.

HP Comware switches happily take every SFP I throw at them. Of course they complain, but the will still work. Happily for me. I could use all my old SFPs from Cisco in all my 3Com devices.

I do not use Spanning Tree protocols. OSPF to the access and top of rack switches. "loopback-detection" on access ports + filter. Look for "cisco layer 3 campus design" or "routed access layer". You do not need Cisco for that one.

[greggmh123]

MichaelM55,

Too late for my own order, but good information for future ones for clients. You guys are definitely WAY above my scale. If you are Enterprise techs, then I am a mere Klingon, and not the good kind. Think of the joke: Why are the Starship Enterprise and toilet paper alike? Yep, that's me, hanging on at the bottom of the scale.

I ordered an 1820 for my office. It was about $30 more than a D-Link, so why not? For clients where noise is not a problem, I'll look at the 1910/1920 lines.

Thank you for your input!

Gregg